Night in the Woods

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
This article is about the 2017 video game. For the 2012 horror film, see A Night in the Woods.
"Gregg Lee" redirects here. For other people, see Greg Lee (disambiguation).
Night in the Woods
Night in the Woods.jpg
Digital storefront artwork, featuring the game's iconography and cast of characters
Developer(s)Infinite Fall
Publisher(s)Finji
Designer(s)
Programmer(s)
  • Alec Holowka
  • Jon Manning
  • Paris Buttfield-Addison
Artist(s)
  • Scott Benson
  • Charles Huettner
  • Sven Ruthner
Writer(s)
  • Bethany Hockenberry
  • Scott Benson
Composer(s)
  • Alec Holowka
  • Scott Benson
EngineUnity
Platform(s)
Release
February 21, 2017
  • Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux
    • NA: February 21, 2017
    • EU: February 28, 2017
    • JP: April 1, 2019
    PlayStation 4
    • NA: February 21, 2017
    • EU: February 28, 2017
    • JP: March 28, 2019
    Xbox One
    • WW: December 13, 2017
    Nintendo Switch
    • WW: February 1, 2018
    • JP: March 28, 2019
    iOS
    • WW: September 9, 2021
Genre(s)Adventure
Mode(s)Single-player

Night in the Woods is a 2017 single-player adventure video game. It was developed by Infinite Fall, a studio founded by game designer Alec Holowka and animator/artist Scott Benson, and published by Finji.

It is a story-focused exploration game in which players control a young woman[1] named Mae Borowski, who recently dropped out of college and has returned to her hometown to find unexpected changes. The game was funded via the crowdfunding platform Kickstarter, where it eventually earned over 400% of its US$50,000 funding goal.[2]

A companion game titled Longest Night was released in December 2013 by Holowka and Benson, along with co-writer Bethany Hockenberry.[3] In December 2014, a second supplemental game was released, titled Lost Constellation.[4]

The game was released for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, and PlayStation 4 on February 21, 2017. The Xbox One version was released on December 13, 2017, while a version for the Nintendo Switch was released on February 1, 2018.[5] A version for iOS was released on September 9, 2021.

An extended version of the game, titled the Weird Autumn edition, was released for PC, macOS, Linux, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One on December 13, 2017 and for Nintendo Switch on February 1, 2018. It features new content not seen in the original game, as well as the supplemental games.[6] Night in the Woods received notable critical praise, mostly for its soundtrack, story, dialogue and characters.

Overview and gameplay[]

Mae, an only child, has returned home to Possum Springs—a town populated by zoomorphic humans.[1] Now living in her parents' attic, she discovers how much times have changed since the closing of the town's coal mines, uncovering a dark mystery that leads her into the nearby woods. She is forced to confront a horrible secret the town has hidden for decades involving not only the town's mine, but also the recent disappearance of her longtime friend Casey. Mae's friends also include Bea, a cigarette-smoking crocodile and Mae's childhood friend; Gregg, a hyperactive fox; and his boyfriend, a bear named Angus. Paste describes the themes covered as "mental illness, depression, the stagnancy of the middle and lower classes, and the slow death of small town America."[7]

As Mae, players run, jump, and learn other mechanics that allow them to explore Possum Springs. Benson described the key actions for the player as "explore, converse, see and touch", while Holowka described their approach as "narrative-focused" rather than "gameplay-first".[8] Players make decisions that affect the course of the story, though Benson said, "it's more like 'do you hang out with this person?' Okay, cool. That person might not know you as well by the end of the game, but this person you hung out with, you're going to get to see their storyline."[9]

Plot[]

Margaret "Mae" Borowski is a 20-year-old college dropout, who relocates back to her Rust Belt-inspired hometown of Possum Springs, which has been struck by the closure of the coal mines and the stagnating economy. She meets up with her old friends, including gloomy but intelligent Beatrice "Bea" Santello, hyperactive delinquent Greggory "Gregg" Lee, and Gregg's quiet, modest boyfriend Angus Delaney. Mae also learns that another one of her old friends, Casey Hartley, has mysteriously disappeared.

Mae spends several days exploring Possum Springs and spending time with her friends, but she also begins to have strange and vivid dreams. At the town's Halloween festival, Mae witnesses a teenager being kidnapped by a mysterious figure, whom Mae believes is a ghost, though her friends say that it is probably not a ghost. The four friends begin working together to figure out what is going on, with Mae's mental health slowly deteriorating with every one of her dreams. After intensive searching, the four come across a strange group of cloaked figures in the woods, who chase them; Mae ends up falling and lapses into a coma, while her friends escape.

Mae eventually wakes up and returns to her friends after being rescued by churchgoers, and she reveals that the reason she dropped out was due to her increasing dissociation from people and the world (it is implied that Mae suffers from some sort of depersonalization disorder), seeing everything as merely shapes. Mae's journal, in which she draws pictures for each major event in the game, was given to her by a doctor to write down her emotions after she bludgeoned a student with a softball bat six years ago as a result of a dissociative episode. Due to this incident, the townsfolk became wary of Mae and the incident caused a financial and emotional strain in her family. As her dissociation worsened at college, Mae chose to leave and return home, hoping that being back in Possum Springs would help her return to normal.

Still wounded, Mae decides to venture out into the woods alone to find the group who chased her and the others, only for Gregg, Bea, and Angus to arrive and refuse to let her go by herself. The group enters the old mines and meets the mysterious group, who are revealed to be a cult, which turns out to be behind the kidnappings of several residents, including Casey, Gregg's friend who was known to be missing for months, taking those whom they deem useless to society and whom they say will "not be missed" into the mines to sacrifice them to a god-like chthonic entity called the Black Goat in hope that the entity will revitalize the economy of Possum Springs. The cult's leader allows the group to leave, threatening them never to tell anyone about the cult – however while the group leaves in the mine's elevator, a member of the group appears out of nowhere (presumably the ghost) and attacks Mae. The others manage to save her and the elevator falls, collapsing the mine and presumably trapping the cult underground.

The next day, depending on who the player interacted with the most throughout the course of the game, Mae sits down with either Bea or Gregg and talk about the events of the previous night, and all the things that have happened in Possum Springs. The others join them shortly after, and Mae tells them that although they will all be forced to grow and adapt to life as it goes on for better and for worse, they can still enjoy their time together now. The game ends as the four decide to forget about their problems for the time being and have band practice.

Development[]

Night in the Woods was announced on October 22, 2013, on Kickstarter. Holowka and Benson set a US$50,000 funding goal, which was reached in only 26 hours.[10] The project eventually earned over US$200,000 in crowdfunding. The additional funding allowed Infinite Fall to hire animator Charles Huettner to create additional animations, and for Infinite Ammo and game developer Adam Saltsman to create a roguelike that is playable within Night in the Woods. While Benson believed adding further stretch goals would result in additional backers, Infinite Fall limited the amount of stretch goals to avoid scope creep.[11] Benson names Chris Ware, Mike Mignola, Mary Blair, Flannery O’Connor, and Richard Scarry as influences on his work on Night in the Woods.[12][13]

In October 2017, it was announced that the game would be ported to iOS devices by Australian studio Secret Lab, who created the narrative engine used by the game.[14][15][16] The port was tentatively due for release in 2018, but released on September 9, 2021.[17][18] In January 2018, the game was officially announced for the Nintendo Switch, and was released for the console the following month, including all content from the Weird Autumn edition.[19] A physical version was planned to be released through Limited Run Games, but was delayed indefinitely after the rest of the development team cut their ties with Holowka, following accusations of physical and emotional abuse by Holowka's ex-partner Zoë Quinn.[17][20]

Soundtrack[]

Developer Alec Holowka created the soundtrack for Night in the Woods. Three albums of the game's music were released via Bandcamp on March 9, 2017.[21] Holowka named DIIV as a large influence on the game's score.[12]

Reception[]

Night in the Woods received very favourable reviews. On Metacritic, the PS4 version has an average score of 87 from 15 critics,[23] and the PC version has an average score of 88 from 30 critics.[22] Praise is mainly given to the writing and characters. In his review of both Night in the Woods and Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Wildlands, Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw of Zero Punctuation called the game "a solid 'worth checking out'" and complimented its "strong writing" while stating his reservations about the game's pacing and tone.[34] In Japan, where the PlayStation 4 and Switch versions were ported and published by Playism on March 28, 2019,[35] Famitsu gave them each a score of one nine and three eights for a total of 33 out of 40.[36]

Eurogamer ranked the game 13th on their list of the "Top 50 Games of 2017",[37] and GamesRadar+ ranked it 17th on their list of the 25 Best Games of 2017,[38] while Polygon ranked it 23rd on their list of the 50 best games of 2017.[39] The game was nominated for "Best Comedy Game" in PC Gamer's 2017 Game of the Year Awards.[40] It won the award for "Best Adventure Game" in IGN's Best of 2017 Awards,[41] whereas its other nominations were for "Best Art Direction", "Best Story", and "Best Original Music".[42][43][44] In Giant Bomb's 2017 Game of the Year Awards, the game won the award for "Best Cast of Characters", and was a runner-up each for "Best Debut", "Best Story", and "Game of the Year".[45][46] It also won the award for "Best Character" (Mae) and "Best Dialogue" in Game Informer's 2017 Adventure Game of the Year Awards.[47] Before that, the game won the award "Best 2D Visuals" and the overall award "Golden Cube" in the Unity Awards 2017, whereas it was nominated for "Best Desktop/Console Game".[48]

Awards[]

Year Award Category Result Ref
2017 SXSW Gamer's Voice Awards 2017 Gamer's Voice (Single Player) Nominated [49]
Golden Joystick Awards Best Storytelling Nominated [50][51]
Best Visual Design Nominated
Best Indie Game Nominated
Breakthrough Award (Infinite Fall) Nominated
The Game Awards 2017 Games for Impact Nominated [52]
Best Independent Game Nominated
Titanium Awards Best Indie Game Nominated [53]
2018 21st Annual D.I.C.E. Awards Outstanding Achievement in Story Nominated [54]
D.I.C.E. Sprite Award Nominated
National Academy of Video Game Trade Reviewers Awards Art Direction, Contemporary Nominated [55]
Writing in a Comedy Won
SXSW Gaming Awards 2018 Most Promising Intellectual New Property Nominated [56][57]
Most Fulfilling Community-Funded Game Won
Excellence in Narrative Nominated
Matthew Crump Cultural Innovation Award Nominated
Trending Game of the Year Nominated
Independent Games Festival Competition Awards Seumas McNally Grand Prize Won [58][59]
Excellence in Visual Art Nominated
Excellence in Narrative Won
Game Developers Choice Awards Best Debut (Infinite Fall) Nominated [60][61]
Best Narrative Nominated
Best Visual Art Nominated
14th British Academy Games Awards Debut Game Nominated [62][63]
Game Beyond Entertainment Nominated
Narrative Won
Original Property Nominated

References[]

  1. ^ a b Benson, Scott (March 30, 2017). "Developer Scott Benson on Characters' Identity". curiouscat.me. Archived from the original on February 18, 2018. Retrieved 2018-02-17.
  2. ^ "Kickstarter, Night in the Woods project page". Kickstarter. November 22, 2013. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  3. ^ "Longest Night". itch.io. December 21, 2013. Archived from the original on August 19, 2018. Retrieved February 21, 2017.
  4. ^ "Lost Constellation". itch.io. December 31, 2014. Archived from the original on September 25, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  5. ^ "Night in the Woods Is Coming to Switch This Week". twinfinite.net. 16 January 2018. Retrieved 2018-01-16.
  6. ^ "Night In The Woods: Weird Autumn expands on the original, comes to Switch Feb. 1 (update)". polygon.com. 30 October 2017. Archived from the original on 2018-02-25. Retrieved 2019-11-11.
  7. ^ Martin, Garrett; Irwin, Jon (June 22, 2015). "The 10 Best Videogames We Played at E3 2015". Paste. Archived from the original on September 10, 2018. Retrieved March 7, 2017.
  8. ^ Cox, Davis (May 1, 2014). "The charming, melancholy Night in the Woods picks up where Gone Home left off". Kill Screen. Archived from the original on September 8, 2015. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  9. ^ Matulef, Jeffrey (June 25, 2014). "Night in the Woods is like Gone Home, in third-person, with talking animals". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on July 15, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  10. ^ "FULLY FUNDED! Also, stretch goals? Consoles? Linux?". Kickstarter. October 24, 2013. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved February 25, 2015.
  11. ^ Kuchera, Ben (November 12, 2013). "The goals that refused to stretch: Why Night in the Woods said no to Kickstarter tradition". The Penny Arcade Report. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  12. ^ a b Ligman, Kris (December 2, 2013). "Q&A: How Night in the Woods taps into a real sense of community". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
  13. ^ Ewert-Krocker, Nate (March 9, 2017). "'Rust Belt Gothic': lead writer Scott Benson unpacks the art that inspired Night in the Woods". . Archived from the original on March 7, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  14. ^ "Small Towns, Small Screens: Night in the Woods is coming to mobile". Secret Lab. Archived from the original on 2018-03-23. Retrieved 2018-03-23.
  15. ^ Fingas, Jon. "Relentlessly witty 'Night in the Woods' comes to your phone in 2018". Engadget. Archived from the original on 2017-10-26. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  16. ^ Gilyadov, Alex (2017-10-23). "Night in the Woods Mobile Version Announced". IGN. Archived from the original on 2017-10-26. Retrieved 2017-10-27.
  17. ^ a b Kim, Matt (2019-08-28). "Night In The Woods Studio Cuts Ties With Developer Accused of Sexual Assault, Cancels Game". IGN. Archived from the original on 2019-12-16. Retrieved 2019-11-28.
  18. ^ Gregson-Wood, Stephen (September 9, 2021). "Night in the Woods, the critically acclaimed adventure game, is now available for iOS". Pocket Gamer.
  19. ^ Reseigh-Lincoln, Dom (January 16, 2018). "The Anthropomorphic Mystery Of Night In The Woods Arrives On Switch This Feb". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on February 21, 2018. Retrieved February 4, 2018.
  20. ^ Kim, Matt T.M. (August 29, 2019). "Night In The Woods Studio Cuts Ties With Developer Accused of Sexual Assault, Cancels Game - IGN".
  21. ^ "Night in the Woods Vol. 1: At The End Of Everything". Bandcamp. Archived from the original on September 22, 2018. Retrieved March 11, 2017.
  22. ^ a b "Night in the Woods for PC Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on May 23, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  23. ^ a b "Night in the Woods for PlayStation 4 Reviews". Metacritic. Archived from the original on May 30, 2018. Retrieved March 23, 2017.
  24. ^ "Night in the Woods for Xbox One Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  25. ^ "Night in the Woods for Switch Reviews". Metacritic. Retrieved December 27, 2020.
  26. ^ Porreca, Ray (30 March 2017). "Review: Night in the Woods". Destructoid. Archived from the original on 22 March 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  27. ^ "GameInformer". Game Informer. Archived from the original on 2018-01-18. Retrieved 2018-11-26.
  28. ^ "Night In The Woods review". GameSpot. Archived from the original on 2018-09-03. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
  29. ^ "Night In The Woods Review". IGN. Archived from the original on 2018-04-04. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
  30. ^ Reseigh-Lincoln, Dom (4 February 2018). "Night In The Woods". Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  31. ^ "Night in the Woods review". PC Gamer. 28 February 2017. Archived from the original on 2018-01-25. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
  32. ^ "Night in the Woods review". Polygon. 3 March 2017. Archived from the original on 2018-08-22. Retrieved 2017-05-01.
  33. ^ Banas, Graham (5 March 2017). "Night In The Woods". Push Square. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 6 April 2020.
  34. ^ Croshaw, Ben (March 29, 2017). "Zero Punctuation: Ghost Recon Wildlands". The Escapist. Archived from the original on September 23, 2018. Retrieved October 13, 2018.
  35. ^ Finji staff (February 2, 2019). "Night in the Woods gets a Japanese Release thanks to Playism!". Finji. Archived from the original on September 1, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  36. ^ rawmeatcowboy (April 3, 2019). "Famitsu – review scores for April 3rd, 2019". GoNintendo. Archived from the original on September 1, 2019. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  37. ^ Eurogamer staff (December 29, 2017). "Eurogamer's Top 50 Games of 2017: 20-11". Eurogamer. Archived from the original on January 9, 2018. Retrieved December 31, 2017.
  38. ^ GamesRadar staff (December 22, 2017). "The best games of 2017". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on October 3, 2017. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
  39. ^ Polygon staff (December 18, 2017). "The 50 best games of 2017". Polygon. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2018.
  40. ^ PC Gamer staff (December 8, 2017). "Games of the Year 2017: The nominees". PC Gamer. Archived from the original on January 6, 2018. Retrieved January 1, 2018.
  41. ^ "Best of 2017 Awards: Best Adventure Game". IGN. December 20, 2017. Archived from the original on December 23, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  42. ^ "Best of 2017 Awards: Best Art Direction". IGN. December 20, 2017. Archived from the original on December 16, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  43. ^ "Best of 2017 Awards: Best Story". IGN. December 20, 2017. Archived from the original on January 1, 2018. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  44. ^ "Best of 2017 Awards: Best Original Music". IGN. December 20, 2017. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  45. ^ Giant Bomb staff (December 28, 2017). "Game of the Year 2017 Day Four: Debut, New Characters, Story, and Styyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyle". Giant Bomb. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved December 28, 2017.
  46. ^ Giant Bomb staff (December 29, 2017). "Game of the Year 2017 Day Five: Best, Worst, Cast, and Capture". Giant Bomb. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  47. ^ Favis, Elise (January 9, 2018). "The 2017 Adventure Game Of The Year Awards". Game Informer. Archived from the original on January 13, 2018. Retrieved January 9, 2018.
  48. ^ "Awards – Unity Awards 2017". Unity. Archived from the original on September 13, 2017. Retrieved October 4, 2017.
  49. ^ Aviles, Estevan (January 31, 2017). "Gamer's Voice Nominees Revealed for SXSW Gaming 2017". SXSW. Archived from the original on February 20, 2018. Retrieved February 20, 2018.
  50. ^ Gaito, Eri (November 13, 2017). "Golden Joystick Awards 2017 Nominees". Best in Slot. Archived from the original on January 10, 2018. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  51. ^ Weber, Rachel (November 17, 2017). "The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild scores big at the 35th Golden Joystick Awards presented with OMEN by HP". GamesRadar+. Archived from the original on November 17, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  52. ^ Makuch, Eddie (December 8, 2017). "The Game Awards 2017 Winners Headlined By Zelda: Breath Of The Wild's Game Of The Year". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 9, 2017. Retrieved December 23, 2017.
  53. ^ "The list of finalists for the Fun & Serious Titanium Awards has been revealed". Fun & Serious Game Festival. 2017. Archived from the original on November 12, 2019. Retrieved November 8, 2019.
  54. ^ Makuch, Eddie (January 14, 2018). "Game Of The Year Nominees Announced for DICE Awards". GameSpot. Archived from the original on January 17, 2018. Retrieved January 18, 2018.
  55. ^ "2017 Awards". Archived from the original on 2019-12-23. Retrieved 2020-06-15.
  56. ^ McNeill, Andrew (January 31, 2018). "Here Are Your 2018 SXSW Gaming Awards Finalists!". SXSW. Archived from the original on February 1, 2018. Retrieved February 1, 2018.
  57. ^ IGN Studios (March 17, 2018). "2018 SXSW Gaming Awards Winners Revealed". IGN. Archived from the original on March 18, 2018. Retrieved March 18, 2018.
  58. ^ Faller, Patrick (January 5, 2018). "Independent Games Festival Awards Nominees Announced". GameSpot. Archived from the original on January 7, 2018. Retrieved January 6, 2018.
  59. ^ Whitney, Kayla (March 22, 2018). "Complete list of 2018 Independent Games Festival Awards Winners". AXS. Archived from the original on July 1, 2018. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  60. ^ Gamasutra staff (January 5, 2018). "Breath of the Wild & Horizon Zero Dawn lead GDC 2018 Choice Awards nominees!". Gamasutra. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
  61. ^ Makuch, Eddie (March 21, 2018). "Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild Wins Another Game Of The Year Award". GameSpot. Archived from the original on March 27, 2019. Retrieved March 22, 2018.
  62. ^ deAlessandri, Marie (March 15, 2018). "Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice at forefront of BAFTA Games Awards nominations". MCV. Archived from the original on March 16, 2018. Retrieved March 16, 2018.
  63. ^ Makedonski, Brett (April 12, 2018). "BAFTA names What Remains of Edith Finch its best game of 2017". Destructoid. Archived from the original on April 25, 2018. Retrieved April 12, 2018.

External links[]

Retrieved from ""